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Chaise lounges with overstuffed pillows and fluffy throws, multiple large-screen TVs, Surround Sound, earbuds, board games, seltzers and buttered popcorn. Old and new mesh together perfectly to make up a modern home entertainment area these days. And many of the trends are spilling outdoors as entertainment options become more and more mobile.

The saying “everything old is new again” is a longstanding adage for good reason. When vinyl records and turntables made a strong comeback a few years ago, they seemed to kick off a huge throwback trend. But of course, the sound from them is usually broadcast through Surround or heard on tiny wireless earbuds tucked deep in the ear. But in keeping with the old/new theme, the recent holiday season found large, wired headphones a popular item on youngsters’ wish lists.

Like much of modern life, advancements in digital technology drive trends —  even, or especially in, home entertainment. Streaming services created cable service cord cutters, LED has made televisions huge and affordable, and YouTube and TikTok take viewing or listening content directly from the creator to their audiences. No networks, studios or editors required.

Interestingly, even when movies and shows arrive on the screen through a remote that responds to voice commands, is projected onto a screen with a short-throw projector and viewed in a room darkened by the use of motorized window treatment, that room is often still home to good old-fashioned fun like cribbage boards, chess sets and classic card or board games. That mashup is found in backyard entertaining trends as well.

Deck or poolside requirements now might include a fire pit, patio heater, flat top grill and, of course, music. The tunes could be from your iPhone to wireless speakers via a wireless audio adapter (here is where any questions should be directed to Google) or maybe even from a Sonos Connect. Other trends are to “do your own thing” to create carefree entertainment spaces by choosing mixed and matched patterns and bold colors for rugs, table settings and seat cushions. Formerly known as eclectic.

Backyard parties are likely to include someone pulling up an old rocking chair or a stump to the fire to roast a marshmallow or hotdog on a stick. Granted, tasty beverages are kept in an insulated Stanley tumbler with straw or a gigantic YETI Tundra 210 Hard Cooler with wine bottle compatibility. Besides music and the popular cornhole boards, ladder golf and giant Jenga, entertainment may also fall back on croquet, volleyball, badminton, horseshoes or bocce ball.

Come time to retreat back indoors, the digital entertainment probably continues. Televisions long ago became common in the kitchen, bedroom, and are now built into workout equipment. Soon those screens might even be a thing of the past. (Now is the time to Google the term Apple Vision Pro). Screens could easily go the way of birdwatching out the kitchen window for entertainment.

Back to the old/new idea, birdwatching is making a comeback. It probably never disappeared, but it has certainly hit the big screen. TV screens, anyway. Several weeks ago thousands of people around the world watched posts from Friends of Big Bear Valley. The group maintains an infrared camera on a nest in California that is home to a bald eagle pair. The feathered couple recently made national news headlines when an atmospheric river of storms caused mama eagle Jackie to brood for 61 hours straight, waiting for a break in the weather to be relieved by papa Shadow. Their antics and anticipated hatching of three eggs are, what else, livestreamed 24/7 around the world on two channels funded and maintained by FOBBV.

What could be next? Listening to Pandora sent by Bluetooth to wireless floor speakers? For your listening pleasure, check out Crutchfield’s Elac Navis ARF-51 Powered Floor-standing Speaker. It features three woofers and a 1” soft-dome tweeter. And, look Ma, no wires. It uses AirX. (Google it).

Old. New.